Blogs | ACTION.org

Nov 30, 2018

Health systems leave behind nearly half of all people with TB-HIV

As we commemorate World AIDS Day — an opportunity to unite as a global community in the fight against HIV and AIDS — I’m reminded of Nelson Mandela’s remarks at the 2004 International AIDS Conference in Bangkok about tuberculosis (TB): “We are all here because of our commitment to fighting AIDS. But we cannot win the battle against AIDS if we do not also fight TB. TB is too often a death sentence for people with AIDS.” This statement still rings true today.

Finding the missing millions

One in three people with TB are “missing,” meaning they are either undiagnosed or unreported. That is 3.6 million people whose quality of care — if they received care at all — is simply unknown. In September 2018, heads of state committed to finding and treating all people with TB, including these missing millions, with a goal of diagnosing and treating 40 million people with TB from 2018 to 2022. To find the missing millions with TB, governments, civil society, affected communities, and the private sector must work together with global donors to take 6 actions prescribed by ACTION — as shown in our new TB accountability tool.

Hope and opportunity, this World TB Day

In all nine World Tuberculosis (TB) Day advocacy campaigns I have participated in, advocacy groups have shared the same dark figures and told the same devastating stories leading to TB becoming the world’s leading infectious disease killer for the past three years. Every year, the number of people who got sick grew and the death toll rose. No one seemed to pay too much attention—until now.